Carnival
by K-chan's Kisses
Summary: AU two-shot where Mina's dad defeated the curse, but their real lives went downhill as the years passed by. Now, eighteen, Mina is in love and is in a tough situation. MEAUGE ALL THE WAY, BABY! Warning: abuse and drug references. Dedicated to OUAT Fluffer and Lady Jo Editor Extraordinaire!
1. Chapter 1

**AU two-shot where Mina's dad defeated the curse, but their real lives went downhill. MEAUGE ALL THE WAY, BABY! Warning: abuse and drug references. Dedicated to OUAT Fluffer and Lady Jo Editor Extraordinaire!**

* * *

An all too familiar crash floods my ears a few seconds before I slip in my headphones.

_Another glass has been broken. _

"GOD DAMN IT I DON'T CARE IF IT WAS TO MAKE YOU FORGET! YOU SURVIVED THAT CURES, NOW DEAL WITH YOUR FAMILY!"

I turn up my volume and my father's voice, once loving and eternally soft, pierces through the beat of the song.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIVE WITH THESE MEMORIES!"

"BUT I HAVE TO LIVE WITH YOU!"

_Another decibel has been raised._

"IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, JUST LEAVE! JUST FUCKING LEAVE! I DON'T NEED YOU!"

"I'M THE ONE WHO KEEPS THIS FAMILY TOGETHER!" A lie. A total lie. That's my job, not yours. You try, but I'm the one who actually gets it done. "YOU LEAVE, YOU UNGRATEFUL BASTARD! YOU'RE RUINING THIS FAMILY! LEAVE AND NEVER COME BACK! GO AHEAD AND LEAVE US AGAIN LIKE YOU DID FOR YOUR FUCKING STORY."

**_SLAP!_**

_Another line was just crossed._

The sound of skin on skin echoes and seconds later a loud bang rattles the door of our two-story home. He left. Again. At least now I can turn down my music. I'll deafen myself at the rate I'm going.

_CRASH!_

And now mom's throwing a fit. Again. I think she's secretly grateful for the fact that we have to buy cheap things for the house so she could guiltlessly break them in her raging fits. I'm undoubtedly going to have to clean that mess up downstairs. Charlie is going to be home from his friend's house in the morning and I don't want him to see how bad it really is.

The only things I'm grateful to my parents for are Charlie and the fact that he doesn't know how truly messed up our small family is. I know I sound like a spoiled brat with problems that can pale in comparison to some others but I pull more than my fair share around here to say that.

There's a knock on my door. My mother pokes her head in, "can I come in?"

She steps in without waiting for my response. I could care less about the invasion of privacy, in all honesty. It's the swelling mark that claims most of her face that concerns me. I thought she slapped him. She was hit. He hit her. He slapped my mom, the mother of his children and his loving wife. This has never happened before.

"Do you have any money?" She runs her hands through her dulling brown hair. "_He,_" she spits, "spent all of it on drugs to numb the pain again. The land lord is going to be by tomorrow morning and if we don't pay on time this month, we're out."

I silently walk to where I hide my money (dad, if he deserves to be called that anymore, sweeps for money where he can to get his fix) and hand it all over. It's a total of three hundred dollars. I work at a local restaurant as a waitress and the others on my shift know my situation so they hand over half of their tips to me. It takes a while to get it up to this much, but if it means keeping a roof Charlie and my heads, I'll give up all over again.

"Thank you sweetie," mom says, wrapping me in a right hug. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"It's fine." I wave her off. "Just take all the money we have now and go over to the landlord's firm. You and I both know he's going to come back home and take it all over again for a bigger dose."

She gives me a teary nod and bounds off through the door. As soon as she closes my door, there's a tap on my window. I lazily cast a gaze over my left shoulder, knowing fully who it is. My dull brown eyes meet an unworldly blue pair. I stalk over to my window and allow him in.

"Yes?"

A perfect pair of undeniably soft lips gives me a pout. "Is that any way to greet the love of your life?"

I let out a short sigh and curl up on my bed. The pout drops from his lips and he climbs through the window with the grace he and he alone possesses and quietly closes it. He crawls onto my twin bed and wraps himself around me.

He rubs his thumb in a small side to side motion on my stomach, "Another argument?"

"He hit her," I pipe. "He hit her after she mentioned the Story."

I can feel his heart beat pick up from behind me. "I'm sorry," he tightens his hold on me. "If I knew this was going to happen, if I had somehow gotten to see you once I wouldn't've—"

I turn around to look at him. I reach my small hand up to his cheek, "but you didn't. You did what you were supposed to do. You were born and bred for this job. It's not your fault. Stop apologizing."

"But the quests—"

"Were before we met," I say softly. "It was before all those special moments we shared. Your job finished and now your life starts."

"But when does yours start? When do you get some freedom?"

"The day I can take Charlie from this hell," I answer, "is the day my freedom starts. When I can give him the good life he deserves, I'll be free and start living the way I was supposed to."

"You're eighteen, you're already his legal emergency guardian, and you've got me," he says. "Let's get your happily ever after started with, my princess. Let me take care of you. We can start over where they can't get to us."

"Teague," I nervously look up at him, "what are you saying?"

"Run away with me," he runs his hand through my hair, "run away with me, Mina."

Tears are suddenly in my eyes before I know it. I sit up from his warm embrace and turn away from him. "I can't."

"Why not," he turns my chin so I can face him. There's a look of rejection in his eyes, "you don't trust me? Or you just don't want to be with me?"

Before he can say anything else I bring my lips to his. He tastes life forbidden wonder and having him this close gives me this happiness buzz. "I love you. I love you from your plane and back. And you know that."

"Then why won't you go?" He rests his forehead to mine.

"Charlie needs other people to be around. I love you, but your world isn't what he needs."

"There are kingdoms of human-like people. The only difference is the life span and a few abilities here and there. We can take him there and live together. I'll have hundreds of other children and good influences transferred to my kingdom just to give him a good life."

"But it won't be the same, will it? He's a smart boy. He's only ten, Teague; I don't think he can handle that change."

"You'd make a great mother, you know that?" He kisses my forehead and nuzzles me to his chest. "You're always looking out for him the best you can with whatever can. You're selfless, loyal, and brave. You want what's best for him and I know you'd give your life to see that happen. You've been brave for long enough." He takes my hands in his, "let me brave for you. It's time for _you_ to be pampered."

"But Charlie won't be comfo—"

"What if I show you where we would be? If you think it's good enough for him, if you think he'd like something like this, then you two will come home with me and we'll be a family."

"B-but if I don't think it'll be good for him? Then what would happen to us?" I hate myself for stuttering and for the tears I feel welling up in my eyes, but I can't help it.

"Then you give me a year," He says, determination lacing through his voice. "Give me a year, if my kingdom isn't good enough now, then in a year it'll be perfect and you'll be living the way you want the two of you to be. And after that if it's not good enough I'll give up on the plane and put everything into building a business here and you'll be able to live on this plane and I'll make sure you have the best this side has to offer. Okay?"

I wrap my arms around his neck, "okay."

Teague stands up from the hug and pulls out a silver pipe-like device from his pocket. With a grand gesture, he draws a circle in the air and there's a flash of light. Once my eyes get over the light adjustment, I notice that half of my boyfriend's body is through a portal that shows a world of wonder on the other side. I've seen him use it before, but I've never been this close to it. It looks…magical.

He holds out a hand, "let's go see our new home."

I place my hand in his despite my slight fear. I trust him. He'd never let anything happen to me while he's alive. He loves me just as I love him.

I steal a quick kiss on the lips I don't think I'll ever grow sick of, "let's."

* * *

**The next chapter is being drafted, but I decided to stop here because my laptop is about to die. **

**IMPORTANT: this is two-shot, but this can be a multi-chap fic if enough of you want it. Let me know via review.**

**In all honesty, I'm proud of this chapter, being a first draft done in an hour and a half at most. **

**Sorry for any and all mistakes.**

**-K-Chan.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here ye are, Fluffy. Enjoy yerself, lassy!**

Mina's POV

The first thing I see in the new plane is an unearthly and beautiful hue purple in the sky. Logic tells me that it's just the sun set, seeing that the sun is nearing the horizon, but the rest of me is screaming 'it's magic!'. I look over to Teague to see if he's as astounded by the sight to see him smirking. I mentally thump myself on the forehead. Of course he's not awestricken; he's seen this sight thousands of times. Though I don't see how anyone can get sick of it. I chuckle a bit. It's not even sunset yet and I'm gushing over the scenery.

"Convinced to stay yet?"

I give him a sharp look, "you know that I won't make such a superficial decision. I'm here for Charlie's sake."

He arches an eyebrow, "and?"

"And to see if this is where we're going to start our happily ever after," I say with a roll of my eyes. A smile tugs my lips and I try to fight it. I've fallen for a cocky guy and, in all honesty, his ego is almost too easy to fluff. I've worked too hard deflating that thing to puff it back up all at once just because I'm already impressed with the simplest thing about his home plane.

Teague takes my hand in his and laces our fingers together, "let's get going, then. Your story has already had its once upon a time, now let's prepare for the perfect 'the end.'"

I nod and let him lead the way. I have no idea why I love hearing him talk like that. When I was a kid I used to flinch at the word 'story' and now the word makes me melt in my shoes—well at least when _he_ says it. I have a pretty valid reason, though, to be afraid of the word.

Stories have always had double-meanings to me since I was told about the curse. I never let myself love one wholeheartedly because there was always the possibility that that would be the one that'd take my father's life. It's funny how I've fallen in love with the Story, a title and job of Teague's, in the end. I guess it helps that I'm a Grimm, we're known for our plot twists.

…

It doesn't take all that long for us to get to the gate surrounding the city and the entire trip is spent in a comfortable silence. Here and there Teague would sneak a kiss on my cheek and give my hand a squeeze just to be sweet. He really is too good to me.

The gates slowly swing open and I'm left breathless by something that aren't Teague's lips for the second time today.

"Welcome to the heart of my kingdom," Teague chirps. "How do you like it?"

It takes a second for me to fully take in the view and it's absolutely beautiful. The houses by the gates look like they're cottages from story-books—wait a minute, they actually might be—and look simply adorable. The houses' range from a red to tan and each door has a customized design that undoubtedly has to do with the personalities of the family living there. The farther into the city I can see larger houses with business signs in front of them. Aww, they're mom and pop shops! People must live above them too! There aren't all that many places like that on my plane, so it's so cool to see them here.

The further we walk into town, the more decorations and cheer I see. Little children are running up and down the streets, mothers are chasing them down, and people are having a good time playing games and talking.

"Is there something special going on right now, or are people always like this," I ask, watching the bustling town.

"This week is the annual carnival," he answers. "Tomorrow is the last day with the fireworks and kids performances. If you want, we can take Charlie here to see how he likes it. There's a little girl in the castle I think he'd get along with rather well, we can have her tag along and make it a play date. If he doesn't like it, we can always go to the castle and cause a bit of mischief. Oh! We can see how many pies we can sneak from the kitchen. Our head baker makes something similar to his favorite concoction. I'm positive he's going to love it."

I tip toe and give him a kiss on the cheek, "you'd make a really good dad, you know?"

"Give us a few years and I'm pretty sure we'll find out," he grins devilishly.

"I need that royal ring first, hot stuff," I say, swatting his chest playfully. I shoot him a wolfish grin similar to his own, "besides, knowing you, it'll probably end up being sooner than later."

He gives me a look of fiend shock, "my, my, Mina, someone's feeling feisty. I like what this plane does to you."

"Oh honey it's not this plane," I wave him off dismissively, "you just don't say things the right way to get the right response. Now, let's go get some of those cupcakes over there, they're calling my name and it's rude to ignore them."

"As you wish, my lady," he says, leading me to the cart. He asks for two of the heavenly smelling baked goods and the lady hands them over with a smile.

"How much do these cost?" I ask after taking a bite. "I kinda want to just take them all and overdose on these bites of heaven."

The lady shakes her head at me and smiles, "you must be new here, dearie. The prince and the rest of the Royals pay us for the entire kingdom to eat free. If anything, they over pay us!"

"Here," I start, casting a loving glance up to Teague, "sounds like a wonderful place to live."

"It hasn't always been that way, but now it is," the older woman smiles. "And we have the prince's change of heart to thank for that. He was a very dark boy, but now things seem to have changed, right, laddie?"

Teague quickly bids the woman a goodbye and leads me away from her. I furrow my brows in confusion, "why'd we leave so abruptly?"

"I'm pretty sure she was going to tell you about my past…misdeeds."

"So? I already know about all of that. My dad told me and you have, too."

"Well I haven't been fully honest about all of my endeavors," he admits with a sigh. "There are a lot of things that I've done that I haven't told you about."

"Well there's no time like the present," I tell him with an encouraging smile.

"And scare you off?" He shakes his head, "no thanks. We have a good thing going here. I like when you're not afraid of me. It's nice."

"How bout this," I propose, "for everything you feel guilty about, I'll tell you something I regret doing, too."

"I doubt we're on the same level, Mina," he deadpans.

"True, but if we're starting our Happily Ever After, we're going to have to be honest with each other, right?"

He sighs in defeat, "fine we can play your little confession game, but let's continue the tour."

I smirk, looks like I already have a victory against my dashing prince on this plane. Ah, it's the first of many to come.

…

"I'm kinda bummed to go home now," I admit. Teague and I have spent all day together and it was amazing. After we got past our list of misdeeds, there was a huge weight off of our shoulders. We went on rides, participated in contests, and even danced together.

"I would ask you to stay the night at the castle, but you need to get back to Charlie."

"I'd ask you to stay the night at my house, but my father would try to slit your throat with a broken beer bottle."

He gives me an over-exaggerated offended look, "I could take him!"

"I know. It's just that if he tried to hurt you I'd wrench the bottle from his hands and stab him to death with it."

"Aww," he coos, giving me a kiss, "you'd do that for me?"

"Anytime," I grin, giving him a peck. "I could kiss you all night, but I really need to get going."

Teague groans in complaint, but rips a seam for me anyway. I give him one last peck before hopping through to my room. I watch the rip close then seek out Charlie.

"Hey sport," I say, opening his bedroom door. "Do you have any plans tomorrow?"

"No," he responds. I smile, I love hearing his voice. Ever since the curse was broken, he voice was restored. Granted, he doesn't speak all that much, but when he does it always brings a smile to my face.

"My boyfriend, maybe soon to be fiancé, by the hints he's been dropping, wants to take us to a carnival. You up for it?"

"If it's important to you, I'm up for it."

"Thanks, sweetie," I say, kissing his forehead.

"Stop that!"

"You know you love me," I coo, ruffling his hair.

"I do not!"

"You have to do what I say, I'm your older sister," I say wagging my finger at him, "and I'm telling you that you have to love me! End of discussion. We're the best of friends, siblings who may as well be one because we're so close, got it? Good. I'm going to bed now. Niiiiight!"

I bolt out of his room before he can say anything. I love harassing Charlie, especially now that he can voice his displeasure.

I flop on my bed with a smile. I love spending time with my favorite boys in the world. Tomorrow is going to be amazing with the two of them and, if Charlie likes it there, every day after that will be just as great.

**Well there y'all go. One more chapter is guaranteed and after that it's up to you. If any of you have any tips to give me on my technique on displaying affection, feel free to tell me via review. I'm not all that…affectionate. I'll give people hugs here and there, but for the most part I prefer not to be too close to other people unless I'm using them for a pillow in (theatre) class.**

**Feel free to check out my other fanfic for this fandom. It's called "Happily Never After."**

**Sorry for any and all typos**

**-K.**


End file.
